Karrouc Family/Jet

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The first of the Karrouc Family to fight at the South-East Island. He is currently a Knight in the Duchy of Yayhan, in the Realm of Taselak. The frontlines are where he is most often found, eager to prove his worth, To Taselak and his family.

He begun commanding his unit at 17, and has now served the Realm of Taselak for over a year.


Appearance

History

Jet has grown up in an extremely disciplined military family. His family has a proud military tradition, and his father served as the leader of a mercenary company in many wars.

Retired now, he serves as a trainer for young nobles, and he expects his son to excel in the Art of War. Jet has therefore been put through vigorous training most his adolescent life, and has often been pitted against the many years older Argo.

He was the son of a swordsman that Jets father had saved from torture during a war in the Colonies. The swordsman, Circol, had in return pledged that his family would be bound by blood to serve the Karroucs. Argo had inherited many of his fathers skills, and was stronger than most, so Jet had great problems trying to defeat him. And he was no stranger to the sword, having gone through training since he was capable of picking up a sword.

When he did finally defeat Argo, at the age of 15, his father thought him capable of taking command of his own company of soldiers. Jet worked hard at earning the respect of his men. They had ridiculed him when he first recruited them, incapable of understanding that he, who was not even a man yet, deemed himself capable of commanding anyone. After he had beat every single one of them in duels, they started paying more attention to his orders. He drilled them intensely during the day, duelled with his sparring partners in late afternoon, and studied tactics in the night. He worked hard, but it paid off, and even his father seemed more and more impressed with his fervor.

It was two very hard years, but he was prepared when his father called for him, a few days after his 17th birthday. He had proven himself to his father, his soldiers, and Argo. Now he had to prove himself to the world. The father, having travelled all over the world, informed him of where he could gain Glory and Honor on the battlefield, but left the choice of which realm to support up to Jet. Politics were never something he cared for, and neither did Jet. He did, however, care about Honor, and he would never join anyone would might act dishonourably. Pondering on the issue for a few days, studying maps, tales of the realms, and going to Argo and his father for advice, he finally decided to join the Taselakians in their fight for the South-East Island.

The day he left was a day of tears in the Karrouc residence. His mother cried openly, worried sick that she might lose her son, and even his father shed a tear when he handed him some gold from the family chest. His sister was her usual controlled self, and showed little emotion. He travelled with his company to the port, and waited there to see if Argo would show up.

When he was, his sister appeared. She had been trailing him to the port, and tracked him down. He suspected she was not there to just see him, as Argo and her secretly had been very close for quite some time. They had kept it from their parents, as a relationship between servant and master was frowned upon, but Jet had seen it. Celine told him that she was planning to leave for Taselak herself, even though she was not much of a commander, she might be able to serve in other, more devious ways.

Jet did not doubt it. His sister had a penchant for getting herself into trouble, and out of it just as easily. As they were dining in the inn, he asked her why she wanted to go to South-East Island. The answer was surprising.

"I want to make sure you are alive. If you died out there, there would go at least a year before we knew."

"That is not all, is it?"

"No. It would be foolish of me to assume that you did not know about me and Argo. I am just as worried about him as I am for you...But I really do care about you, brother. Don't do anything stupid."

"I shall try not to, Celine. We will see each other soon, I presume?"

"Yes. I've already talked to Argo. He will be here soon."

She stepped outside, and that was the last Jet saw of her for a long time. Argo arrived shortly after.

Jet had decided that Argo could decide for himself whether or not he would go with him to the Island, as he did not want to force Argo to fight for him. Argo then stated that he would follow him, even if he was not bound by blood to do so. He claimed he could not imagine a commander he would rather serve with.

Jet had a hard time believing that he was actually leaving his entire life behind, but as he stood on the ship, looking back at his homeland, he swore that he would not let them down. He would not return before Taselak remembered his name, and his enemies feared it.

He would not return disgraced.

Timeline

Early Dawn

16th of October, 2006

Jet was sent to the South-East Island to gain combat experience, and to test if his training and skills were good enough for him to become a troop leader. He was employed by Baron Otto of Yayhan, and was quite underwhelmed at the lack of imminent combat. His expectations had been exaggerated, but he would soon see battle.


First Blood

20th of October, 2006

At this day, the peasants of Seggelin were unsatisfied with the way they were being treated by the Taselakian soldiers, and took up arms against them. They were swiftly dealt with, and for a veteran this battle would mean nothing.

It did for Jet. He was out on the front lines with his troops, and he was glad to finally put his training at use. Pride filled his heart when the battle was won, and the rush of victory and that all of his men had survived was great. It did not last long, though.

The little resistance these peasants provided, and the fact that they were merely trying to defend their homes from pillaging pained him, and he spent a long, sleepless night in his tent contemplating the lives that had been taken that day.

When the takeover of Seggelin was completed, he reported for service in Lesthem, hoping he could hold the line there.


Setbacks

28th of October, 2006

He failed. The Toren troops were too strong, and although Jet and his units fought fiercely, the line was broken. Jet had his very first taste of defeat, and it was bitter. Argo made it through the battle too, but he was wounded, as were the men who survived. Jet was left with a crippled unit, spread out in a territory that was crawling with the enemy. And he was wounded too. A Toren archer had managed to pierce his left arm, but luckily his healer patched him up quickly, and the wound did not become infected. Despite the healers warning, he was rallying his men shortly after.

He blamed himself. The only thing he could think of as he was retreating with the few men he had managed to find in the aftermath, was that it was his fault. If his men had been in a different formation, if he had only pushed a bit harder, a bit further, they might have won.

It was denial, of course. He knew this, and he had learned long ago to embrace his defeats and learn from them, rather than deny them. But this was different. He had lost. Men had died, and there was few things he could have done to save them. Argo and his father had already taught him that men died in war. But that did not lessen the pain and humiliation he now felt.

He started the retreat to Taselak with a heavy heart.


Revival

1st of November, 2006

The glorious city of Taselak. The very thing he had promised himself, his family, and his liege ( who was not his liege anymore, due to some bureacratic error), that he would defend with all his might. And he had never been here before.

It was a wondrous sight. Traders hawking their wares, soldiers taking pride in their Taselakian uniform, and all the rabble, nobles and clergy of a major city. Seeing it was built for war was not difficult, though. The fortifications were impressive, and the city certainly would not give up without a fight when that time came.

His own force was not very intimidating, though. The healers had saved 8 men, excluding Argo and himself. Their equipment was more dangerous to themselves than anyone else, their moods were black, and they were tired from the long, strenous march. They were all quickly checked in to one of the inns Jet could afford, and then he set off to get his affairs in order.

He first withdrew all the money he had in the bank, and the he went on to recruit some troops. Argo had been sent off with the equipment to get it fixed and acquire paraphernalia, so Jet was free to find the troops he needed. With the budget he had he would be forced to limit himself , but he managed to scrounge up 22 soldiers, who even had better equipment than his own guard.

The sadness that had hung over him since the fall of Lesthem was replaced by hope when he saw the fire that burned within these men. They lived for battle, and he was looking forward to leading them to it. He would get to do so soon enough.The order for the counter-attack on Lesthem came right after his arrival in Endelee. Any units in the region should march to Lesthem and eliminate the Toren troops there.

He would avenge his fallen soldiers, and this time he would not let them down.


The Eastern Campaign

3th of November, 2006

With the revival of Sandalak, the Ikalakians had become distracted and were withdrawing their troops from Taselak soil. The Taselakian army focused on the Toren front, and Jet joined them at first in Lesthem, where they were pushed back, then in Seggelin, where they conquered. And back to Lesthem via Endelee, where they defeated the rather unprepared Toren troops. The orders from High Command were to push forward, into the enemy heartlands, and Jet was very satisfied with these easy victories. He had to remind himself to not grow complacent, but to remember that the enemies were holed up in Toren Stronghold, and could get to them within a very short time.

It seemed that they were used as a diversion, but he would try his best to follow his given orders. He had faith in his superiors, and had recently plegded his allegiance to the newly appointed Judge and Arch Priest Kanuni. He was now a Knight of Endelee, a region right near the Toren border.

Which he had crossed a long time ago. He was riding towards Kail now, but unbeknownst to Jet as he was leading his men through the enemy lands, burning and pillaging, Toren was still building up their presence in the legendary Cave of Guilt. The Taselak High Command had countered this by amassing a plentiful force in the region of Falens. There were few options for Toren now.

It seemed the gods of war were favoring the Taselakians once again.


Precise Destruction

6th of November, 2006

The advance had halted. Not due to any kind of military obstacle, but they had merely reached the place they had to be. Right above Toren Stronghold. With the orders to halt had also come one to destroy the military infrastructure of Kail. Jet was once again impressed with the skill of High Command as they, with a relatively small force they were already in the enemy heartlands, and were now in the process of shredding his military might. He just hoped that the Toren did not dare to leave their Stronghold, or their defeat would be certain.

He did not like retreating.


Casualties

11th of November, 2006

While travelling through the regions near Toren Stronghold, they met little organised resistance. There were a few Toren nobles and their men that opposed them, and the usual angry peasants, but they were handled with relative ease. Even then, war took its toll on Jets men. They were forced to bury a few that were lost in battle, and one even died due to the healers forgetfulness.

But it was affecting him less. He realised that these men did not matter as much to him as the few that were still left of his original unit. And even though this did make him more effective as a leader, he did not know if he liked it. He remembered his fathers blank eyes when he thought of the war, and the discontempt for human life that had taken root in him when he retired. That blank stare was something Jet would do his best to avoid.

But Taselak was not the only one taking casualties. When the Taselakian troops faced off against the Toren in Lesthem, they struck a hard blow to their forces. Both their Pontifex and Paladin Primus were wounded. For Jet, this proved that the death of his men were not in vain. They were inflicting heavy damage on the Toren, and with the following victory in Endelee, he was convinced the war was going their way again.

His second return to the city of Taselak was many times merrier than the last one. They were going there to refit and rest up, and he was eager to return to the battle.


Routines

5th of December, 2006

Nearly all of them were dead. Of the original unit he had brought with him, only Argo and one of the squad leaders, Gunnar, had survived. He had gotten used to it though, it had stopped affecting him. Such was war, blunting the human soul since the dawn of time. The death of men had stopped being a rare sight to Jet.

His fervor for serving Taselak had not been diminished with his new hard-earned realism, though. But his financial situation was not very good at the time, mainly due to the fact that Taselak, pressed on both sides, were losing regions now. But tax day was today, and he was heading back to the capital for a refit.

He was confident that Taselak would stand fast, no matter what their enemies threw at them. Yet still, he missed his sister. She was doing alright, it seemed from her letters. And he had not disclosed her location to their parents when they asked in their letters. The bond between the siblings were stronger than before now, but he knew that Argo would soon go to her. His feelings for her were stronger than he had suspected.

Goodbyes

15th of December, 2006

After the victory in Moeth, Jet had decided. While Taselak might be able to hold out for long, they would lose the war if Toren did not turn their course around. And being trapped in Taselak City with hordes of enemy soldiers waiting outside was not something he wanted to subject Argo to. Not that Argo would not be able to survive such a treatment, but it was out of love for Celine that he wanted him to leave the Island.

They deserved to be together. Argo had served him his entire life, and there was not anyone that deserved being free more than him. But Jet knew that it would be of no use to just set him free. If Argo's relationship with his sister was to be in any way legitimate, he would have to be a nobleman. His father may have objected against this kind of action, but Jet actually made him a proper noble after the Battle of Moeth, with the grounds given being Argo saving the lives of multiple soldiers of his unit.

Which he did. Bravery was rewarded in Taselak, so he was freed of his slavery, and made a nobleman. even though it was partially against his own will, Jet knew he appreciated it. They had their final goodbyes in Taselak, before Argo boarded the ship to the Far East. Argo promised he would take care of Celine, and that they would come visit when they could.

When the ship was out of sight, Jet went to his scribe. He had a few very important letters to write.